Activation of Estrogen Receptor-Beta can Help Reduce Obesity, Metabolic Diseases

Safe and effective treatment for obesity is highly needed. Activating the estrogen - the primary female sex hormone - receptor-beta protein with a chemical has the potential to increase metabolism as well as help reduce obesity, suggested researchers including one of Indian-origin.

The findings showed that the activation of a chemical called beta-LGND2 by the estrogen receptor-beta can help reduce obesity and metabolic diseases in mice by converting bad fat (white fat) into good fat (brown fat).

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‘Activating the estrogen receptor-beta protein with a chemical has the potential to increase metabolism as well as help reduce obesity.’

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This is significant as brown fat increases metabolism and may facilitate weight loss, the researchers said.

"Although there is a general misperception that obesity is not a life-threatening condition, obesity is the underlying cause for several diseases that could result in mortality," said Ramesh Narayanan, a researcher at the University of Tennessee in the US.

"Safe and effective treatment for obesity is highly needed, and targeting estrogen receptor-beta might be one of the strategies to safely combat obesity," Narayanan added.

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To make their discovery, Narayanan and colleagues used three groups of mice.

One group was fed with normal rodent diet, while two groups were fed with high-fat diet to make them obese. One of the two high-fat diet-fed groups was treated with beta-LGND2.

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The beta-LGND2-treated mice were significantly leaner than the other mice fed on high-fat diet and they also had higher body temperature and oxygen consumption, indicating higher metabolism rate.

The research was published online in The FASEB Journal.

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Source-IANS